So Long, Dr. Mel
Jocelyn Ruggiero
Dr. Mel Goldstein and his wife, Arlene, in a photo taken last month.
"When I arrive at his beachfront house, Dr. Mel Goldstein is at his piano in front of a window facing Long Island Sound.
We sit side by side as he plays My Funny Valentine. His vision is blurred and he can’t see the piano keys well; severe neuropathy in his hands means that his fingers can’t feel keys. Despite these challenges, he loves playing: “The Steinway has been for me psychologically a lifesaver . . . you feel life, emotion, action—you feel love . . . I play for myself and it comes from the heart."
From an upcoming story in Connecticut Magazine on Connecticut Hospice, which Dr. Mel and his wife, Arlene, depended upon for relief and comfort in his final illness.
So Long, Dr. Mel
